Jewel is the guy everyone loves to hate. He's mean and wild, and he's the person least likely to be up to any good. Yet, everyone loves him. Addie loves him best, and Dewey Dell is fond of him as well (as Jewel descends into the water to try to find Cash's tools--which surprised me for reasons I can't understand--Dewey Dell whimpers his name in fear for him 162). Even though Jewel is wild, he would tame for one thing--his mom. If you look back to his chapter, he wants it to "just be me and her on a high hill and me rolling the rocks down the hill at their faces, picking them up and throwing them down the hill faces and teeth and all by God until she was quiet..." (15) This is not the nicest intention, but he really loves his mom (almost obsessively). It got me to thinking why he would give up his prize posession, his wild Snopes horse, to let his dad have his teeth. But then I realized that along with the teeth, his mom gets her dying wish; to be buried in Jefferson, and in this, to get revenge on Anse. Perhaps Jewel wants revenge on his family as well...but then why did he return when everyone had thought he left for good? To see the revenge?
I saw many similarities between Jewel and Addie, primarily their attitudes. We don't know much about either considering their limited chapters, but Addie says, "I would look forward to the times when [the school children] faulted, so I could whip them. When the switch fell i could feel it upon my flesh; when it welted and ridged it was my blood that ran...Now you are aware of me!" (170) Perhaps attention was all that Jewel wanted as well. They both seem unnecessarily violent. At least with Jewel we could say that his violence is a result of Addie's influence. With Addie...? - KLe-c Feb 20, 2008
I think that Jewel's violent tendencies are influenced by his mother, yet his kind actions are puzzling because I don't think that giving Anse his horse so he can get his teeth is a way of carrying his mother's revenge. Perhaps there is an inner conflict within Jewel that we do not know about yet. And as to the root of Addie's violence, it has to do something with her childhood and her father's rather morbid view on life. On page 169 she said that her father said the reason for living was to get ready to stay dead for a long time. She even resents her father for ever giving her life. So I think that violence stems from her anger. Also, to hate life so much is pretty nihilistic, and violence is an extension of the self-destruction or destruction of others, especially if causes such horrendous injuries are stated on page 170. Also, is there a chance there perhaps Addie had children merely to make them suffer the same things she did?- MSu-c
From the very beginning, I have liked Jewel. Jewel is indeed a sometimes violent character, but I think there is a lot of passion in Jewel. I think Jewel holds a lot of his emotion inside--which can be unhealthy. Violent moments between Jewel and his horse were described when his mother was sick, yet there were also moments where Jewel appeared to be so in tune with his beloved Snopes horse. "He lifts the horse. It shrinks, bowed; he leans to it, speaking to it, lifting it forward almost bodily, it setting its feet down with gingerly splashings, trembling, breathing harshly. He speaks to it, murmurs to it. 'Go on,' he says. 'I aint going to let nothing hurt you" (144). Jewel showed patience and calmness with his horse as they attempted to cross the river. To me, it seemed like his violence was his reaction to his mother's sickness and the pain he felt. I think Jewel felt alone. In that way, his mother influenced his violence.
There was another passage that says a lot about Jewel's attitude. After speaking out against Cash banging nails into the coffin right outside her window: "Like a little boy in the dark to flail his courage and suddenly aghast into silence by his own noise" (18). There is an innocence in Jewel. I think it is important not to completely misinterpret his character. There is a lot behind the violence. - KGa-c Feb 20, 2008 What I noticed about Jewel was when we he was so called “disrespectful”, but he single handedly carried the coffin into the wagon. I know he cursed afterward, but don’t these kind acts disregard Anse’s remark that jewel isn’t properly treating his dead mother. Also, a little while later, when the commotion with the coffin in the river is happening, Jewel is the one who retrieves the coffin. For such direct statements against Jewel’s respect of his mother, I can find plenty of things that counter it. He even goes into the barn when it is on fire and saves the coffin. He is so closely connected with his mother, that I was wondering what exactly was meant by these comments? Does it have something to do with him being an illegitimate child? Are they hinting that he is less connected to their family? - kec-c Feb 20, 2008
To answer kec's question, I'm pretty sure that Anse said those things to Jewel just because he is Anse. I believe that Anse does not know about the Addie/Whitfield affair; he's just being mean to Jewel because the two of them don't get along and Anse always complains. But other than that, I completely agree with kec; Jewel is set apart from the rest of the Bundren family because (1) he litterally is less connected with them since Whitfield was his dad and (2) he is the only one who shows a fierce and a complete devotion to Addie in her death, which is best represented when he risks his life to save the coffin both in the river and in the burning barn. I also like what KGa said about Jewel's character being misinterpreted. I think that that's an easy thing to do because his rash actions and crude&rude comments give him a bad rap. However, underneath all of that, it's quite obivous that his love and concern for his mother is great.- lma-c Feb 21, 2008
I tend to agree with lma. Anse is pretty much just an idiot; I think we can all agree about that. Anse is so into himself there is no way that he knows about Addie's affair with Whitfield, which is funny because Faulkner comments on how Jewel is much different looking than his siblings. Anse probably doesn't understand the concept of genetics. Plus, Anse is probably still ticked off at Jewel for sneaking out all those nights and stealing his labor from his father to work on someone else's farm. Poor Jewel is the bastard child, but the only one that truly loves Addie. It sort of reminds me of a similar situation in the play King Lear. At first, I hated Jewel and thought that he was just a rude, disrespectful teenage, but after I finished the book, I understood that his action were a complete result of his family's disfuntionality. - kva-c Feb 27, 2008
Well, Jewel ain't that bad really, and I think you misinterpreted a couple things. He's self-absorbed on the surface, really, but deep down, he's so much more. He curses as he does labour, he hates interacting with the rest of his family, he keeps secrets, talks little to others, and yet has a heart underneath his appearances. Even when he was cursing as he was lifting his mother's coffin, I think a big part of why he was cussing was because, well, his mother was dead and he was lifting her up onto a wagon, not just because he was stuck doing manual labour. But I think you've got the wrong idea for the horse. I don't think he was thinking revenge at all when he left it but really, it's just that he has a heart he likes to hide, and one that cares about his family, not just his mother. Don't give him a psychotic attachment/dependency on his mother, it's not true. He cared for her, but he gave up his horse, I think, because the others were all depending on it to replace the team of mules that they needed, and well, others were making sacrifices too. And he came along with the others partially because it was his mom, but really just because he'd never meant to stay behind in real life anyways, it's was just a facade that he likes to put on: tough, self-absorbed dude. But he's got a heart. - AZU-C Feb 28, 2008
I saw many similarities between Jewel and Addie, primarily their attitudes. We don't know much about either considering their limited chapters, but Addie says, "I would look forward to the times when [the school children] faulted, so I could whip them. When the switch fell i could feel it upon my flesh; when it welted and ridged it was my blood that ran...Now you are aware of me!" (170) Perhaps attention was all that Jewel wanted as well. They both seem unnecessarily violent. At least with Jewel we could say that his violence is a result of Addie's influence. With Addie...? -
I think that Jewel's violent tendencies are influenced by his mother, yet his kind actions are puzzling because I don't think that giving Anse his horse so he can get his teeth is a way of carrying his mother's revenge. Perhaps there is an inner conflict within Jewel that we do not know about yet. And as to the root of Addie's violence, it has to do something with her childhood and her father's rather morbid view on life. On page 169 she said that her father said the reason for living was to get ready to stay dead for a long time. She even resents her father for ever giving her life. So I think that violence stems from her anger. Also, to hate life so much is pretty nihilistic, and violence is an extension of the self-destruction or destruction of others, especially if causes such horrendous injuries are stated on page 170. Also, is there a chance there perhaps Addie had children merely to make them suffer the same things she did?-
From the very beginning, I have liked Jewel. Jewel is indeed a sometimes violent character, but I think there is a lot of passion in Jewel. I think Jewel holds a lot of his emotion inside--which can be unhealthy. Violent moments between Jewel and his horse were described when his mother was sick, yet there were also moments where Jewel appeared to be so in tune with his beloved Snopes horse. "He lifts the horse. It shrinks, bowed; he leans to it, speaking to it, lifting it forward almost bodily, it setting its feet down with gingerly splashings, trembling, breathing harshly. He speaks to it, murmurs to it. 'Go on,' he says. 'I aint going to let nothing hurt you" (144). Jewel showed patience and calmness with his horse as they attempted to cross the river. To me, it seemed like his violence was his reaction to his mother's sickness and the pain he felt. I think Jewel felt alone. In that way, his mother influenced his violence.
There was another passage that says a lot about Jewel's attitude. After speaking out against Cash banging nails into the coffin right outside her window: "Like a little boy in the dark to flail his courage and suddenly aghast into silence by his own noise" (18). There is an innocence in Jewel. I think it is important not to completely misinterpret his character. There is a lot behind the violence.
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What I noticed about Jewel was when we he was so called “disrespectful”, but he single handedly carried the coffin into the wagon. I know he cursed afterward, but don’t these kind acts disregard Anse’s remark that jewel isn’t properly treating his dead mother. Also, a little while later, when the commotion with the coffin in the river is happening, Jewel is the one who retrieves the coffin. For such direct statements against Jewel’s respect of his mother, I can find plenty of things that counter it. He even goes into the barn when it is on fire and saves the coffin. He is so closely connected with his mother, that I was wondering what exactly was meant by these comments? Does it have something to do with him being an illegitimate child? Are they hinting that he is less connected to their family? -
To answer kec's question, I'm pretty sure that Anse said those things to Jewel just because he is Anse. I believe that Anse does not know about the Addie/Whitfield affair; he's just being mean to Jewel because the two of them don't get along and Anse always complains. But other than that, I completely agree with kec; Jewel is set apart from the rest of the Bundren family because (1) he litterally is less connected with them since Whitfield was his dad and (2) he is the only one who shows a fierce and a complete devotion to Addie in her death, which is best represented when he risks his life to save the coffin both in the river and in the burning barn. I also like what KGa said about Jewel's character being misinterpreted. I think that that's an easy thing to do because his rash actions and crude&rude comments give him a bad rap. However, underneath all of that, it's quite obivous that his love and concern for his mother is great.-
I tend to agree with lma. Anse is pretty much just an idiot; I think we can all agree about that. Anse is so into himself there is no way that he knows about Addie's affair with Whitfield, which is funny because Faulkner comments on how Jewel is much different looking than his siblings. Anse probably doesn't understand the concept of genetics. Plus, Anse is probably still ticked off at Jewel for sneaking out all those nights and stealing his labor from his father to work on someone else's farm. Poor Jewel is the bastard child, but the only one that truly loves Addie. It sort of reminds me of a similar situation in the play King Lear. At first, I hated Jewel and thought that he was just a rude, disrespectful teenage, but after I finished the book, I understood that his action were a complete result of his family's disfuntionality.
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Well, Jewel ain't that bad really, and I think you misinterpreted a couple things. He's self-absorbed on the surface, really, but deep down, he's so much more. He curses as he does labour, he hates interacting with the rest of his family, he keeps secrets, talks little to others, and yet has a heart underneath his appearances. Even when he was cursing as he was lifting his mother's coffin, I think a big part of why he was cussing was because, well, his mother was dead and he was lifting her up onto a wagon, not just because he was stuck doing manual labour. But I think you've got the wrong idea for the horse. I don't think he was thinking revenge at all when he left it but really, it's just that he has a heart he likes to hide, and one that cares about his family, not just his mother. Don't give him a psychotic attachment/dependency on his mother, it's not true. He cared for her, but he gave up his horse, I think, because the others were all depending on it to replace the team of mules that they needed, and well, others were making sacrifices too. And he came along with the others partially because it was his mom, but really just because he'd never meant to stay behind in real life anyways, it's was just a facade that he likes to put on: tough, self-absorbed dude. But he's got a heart. -